Trapped in a Game
by The Queen Demon
Summary: Natalie and her friends have bought the new virtual reality video game Sword Art online, but when they find out that they can't leave until they beat the game, how will they go through with it? Can they beat the game? On hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! I'm back! And I have a new story! This one is written by my friend Natty. ^not her real name^ And I hope you all like it! ^none of the names used are our real names; this was based upon my friends, sister and I, so please bare in mind that these are not our real names only names we like^**

 **I don't own SOA.**

It was November 2022.

Natalie was tapping her foot impatiently but excitedly. She was in line with her mom to get one of the first hundred free copies of Sword Art Online. Nothing was so much cooler than the world's first virtual reality game. From what the beta testers said, Sword Art Online was like magic.

She wasn't sure what had caused her to be so interested. But what was going to be fun, for sure, was her friends joining her on playing today!

So far, it had been an hour, but they were getting close to the front of the line.

In about fifteen minutes, she was up there. The vendor behind the desk said a few words about the fees of being online, but all Natalie could think about was the NerveGear.

Soon, he pulled a large box from under the table. It was shiny white and had the words NerveGear - Sword Art Online etched onto the side.

"Thank you so much." Natalie said. She picked up the box and walked back to her car.

A few hours later, all of her friends were at her house. Payge, Taylor, Maddy, Aidan and her older sister Emily.

Payge, who had curly dirty blonde hair and red glasses, embraced Natalie warmly. "Hello friends I am here!"

The first thing Taylor did was snort. "Sword Art Online? Why not Black Butler Online?"

Everyone laughed except Natalie. "Do you want to play or not?"

"Fight me then!" Taylor replied.

"That was not a valid response." said Natalie. Everyone chuckled again.

Later, they were sitting on the floor and eating pizza.

"So, how does this virtual thing work?" Emily asked.

"Well, the NerveGear somehow takes all of your senses in the real world and transfers them to the software. Somehow. I don't know, really."

"How are all of us going to play with one NerveGear?" asked Taylor.

"I got special extension cords," said Natalie.

"I'm sorry, but this seriously sounds like I'm about to have surgery." laughed Payge.

Emily frowned. "So, are we playing a game? Online?"

"Well, yes. With other people who have NerveGear."

Aidan's eyes lit up. "So do we get to customize our character's looks?"

"Yes!"

"Oh my god that sounds awesome… if only it were Homestuck." said Maddy.

Emily leaned over and patted her on the head. "Hello darkness my old friend…"

"Okay, so is everybody almost finished so we can start?" asked Natalie, practically bouncing off the walls.

"Look, I'm excited too, but a girl's gotta eat. K?" Emily said.

"Actually, I'm done." announced Payge.

"Me too." said Aidan.

"Eyyyy" said Maddy.

"Sorry, Emily! Five against one!" snickered Taylor.

Emily groaned. "Alright, fine, but only because all of you are my precious Star Children…"

"YES!" Natalie squealed.

She plugged in the NerveGear, and it started up right away. She also plugged in the extensions, which hooked onto special bracelets on Taylor, Payge, Maddy, Emily, and Aidan's wrists.

"I'm kinda nervous about this…" Aidan whispered.

"It'll be fun." Emily said, comforting her sister.

Natalie placed the NerveGear on her head gingerly. It was very comfortable.

Suddenly, a voice echoed from the NerveGear. A cool female robotic voice said: "Player, please touch your hands, shoulders, face, chest, knees, and feet." It the repeated the message two more times, then fell silent. They all did what they were told.

"So, the guide says that before we dive we need to get into a comfortable position. Preferably laying down."

"Natalie, in case if you haven't noticed, there's only ONE bed." Taylor said sarcastically.

"My bed is big. We can try." Natalie suggested, flushing.

Surprisingly, everyone did fit. Natalie was in the middle, Maddy and Payge by her side, Taylor on the outside, and Aidan with her sister.

"Ready?"

"Yup."

"Let's DO THIS."

"Ok…"

There was a few moments of silence, and then Natalie shouted loud and clear: "Link start!"

Suddenly, everyone felt themselves closing their eyes. Everything was gone.

And then, they were standing up.

 **Ohh! Cliffhanger!**

 **I am such a bitch. There is more but... I want to keep you readers hanging on. I will be updating once a week. I promise this time. Every week. On Saturday. Without fail. Unless I am sick. Until next week bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! Sorry it took me so long to update. I was sick last weekend. Like throw up sick. It freaking sucked. So to make up for that I shall update twice today! Please enjoy this chapter. Bye!**

"Emily!" was the first thing that came out of Aidan's mouth.

But everything was okay. She was standing in a circular room that had no ceiling and no floor, and if it wasn't odd enough, there was a dashboard in front of her that asked: What would you like to be called in-game?

There was a keyboard with a space where her name was to be put. She typed in Aidan, and once she clicked OK, another dashboard popped up.

There appeared to be a bunch of different hair colors, styles, and lengths. A note read on the side: Hairstyles and outfits can also be managed in-game.

Aidan chose her normal hairstyle, a deep orange color with waves. Once that was finished, she swiped left, where there was a choice of your style of wear. There were only five options, so Aidan chose one and made the jacket blue.

Finally, she had to choose the sword. There were ten starter weapons. Three ninja swords, one pair of throwing knives, and six normal swords. Some were thin, some were thick and heavy.

Aidan chose a small, thinner sword. It was light and fit perfectly into her hand.

Suddenly, everything dissolved into little pixels, including her. She tried to yell but no sound came out.

Then everything came back. But she was somewhere else now…

Payge, Natalie, Taylor, Maddy and Emily were all waiting in the spawn area of Sword Art Online. They were on the first floor of Aincrad, the Town of Beginnings, in the main plaza. There were lots of players around them, chatting, running around, and exploring. Everyone was dying to look around, but the friends had to wait for Aidan.

"This is so weird! How we can move aaand…. It's just like real life!" Payge stuttered.

"I know!" said Natalie excitedly.

Every time someone spawned in, Emily looked up with hope but it never seemed to be Aidan. Aidan would have a blue outfit for sure. And her yellow glasses could never be missed.

Suddenly, Emily yelped with jubilation, for her sister had arrived. Everyone turned and ran towards Aidan.

All of them had almost the exact same beginner's outfits, but in different styles and colors. Emily had long black hair, black outfit, and a heavy-looking sword. Taylor had long red hair and black jacket with white undergarments and throwing knives. Payge had bouncy blonde hair with a red outfit and red glasses, and Natalie had the exact same but she had long brown hair and no glasses instead. Maddy stood out from the rest with multi-colored hair and black outfit.

"Finally! What the heck took you so long!" Taylor said.

"I was trying to figure things out like the rest of you!" Aidan mumbled.

Emily waved her hand around. "Well, whatever. At least now we're all together."

"Yeah, let's go." Maddy agreed.

"Where?" said Aidan.

Everyone looked at Natalie. "What?" she said.

"You're the one who knows about this game." said Payge.

"Not really! I just got it today!" argued Natalie. She swiped with her fingers and opened up a dashboard. "First, we should-"

"Wait!" shouted Emily. "How did you do that?"

"The dashboard?"

"Yes."

"You swipe down with two fingers." The instant she said that, everyone had their menus popped up.

"Okay, so I was going to say that we should friend each other and form a party. That way, we'll always know where each of us are, in case we get lost."

They all friended, formed a party, and tried to figure out where everything was on the dashboard.

"Okay, so now can we go?" said Taylor.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! Here is the second chapter! I hope you enjoy this! Natty worked hard on this. So please don't flame her. She is a freaking fabulous writer. Please point out any spelling errors! She is a fabulous person! I will be going back to my regular update schedule next week. So be prepared for a new chapter next week on Saturday! Bye!**

About a half hour later, they had explored most of The Town of Beginnings. Right now, they were trying to find the main marketplace.

"Sword Art Online is so huge!" exclaimed Payge.

"It's awesome…" followed Taylor.

"We're actually only on the first floor out of the one hundred!" stated Emily.

Natalie interestedly peeked over at her map. "Really? The manual said there was a lot of levels, but I never imagined 100!"

"I think Sword Art Online is a freestyle game." said Emily.

"Sort of like Minecraft," Aidan remarked.

Taylor huffed with a bit of annoyance, "Can you find the marketplace?!"

Maddy turned to her. "Patience."

"Ooookay! I was only trying to look around!" said Emily. "The main marketplace is down this road and just around the corner, I think."

Suddenly, Payge and Taylor broke into song. "Just around the cornerrrr!" Everyone else joined in. Some players and groups stared at them as they walked by.

They ceased once they reached the market. It was a long, open alley with lots of tents, players, and vendors crying out things such as: "Get your weapons! Quality weapons!" and "We've got HP-nutritious food! Buns, poultry, fruit, you name it!"

"Wow," breathed Natalie. This game was like another world. Everything was so real.

"Come on!" said Payge. "Let's look around!"

"Wait," said Maddy. "What about money? How are we supposed to buy stuff?"

"Is there a virtual ATM anywhere?" Taylor yelled. Payge burst into laughter.

Natalie ignored them and said quickly: "We all start out with 100 col. Emily, how much is that worth in U.S. dollars?"

Even though she had just started playing a half hour ago, Emily was quick with her dashboard. But she couldn't find it.

"It doesn't say anywhere. There aren't any guides."

Natalie swiped with her two fingers and pulled up the menu. "Let's see… nope. Hey, where did Payge go?"

They all looked around, scanning the alley. But she couldn't be seen.

"Wait." said Natalie. "This is hopeless. We can't find her like this. It's way too crowded." She opened up her menu again and applied her search vision.

Aidan suddenly jumped backwards and waved her arms around. "Gahh! Natalie, what the heck! Your eyes! They're green! Like, REALLY green."

"It's called search vision, I think. Apply it and tag it on Payge."

They said no more and started to look. They didn't search for more than two seconds when Payge's figure came bounding up to them. "Hey fwends! Look what I-" she stopped in her tracks. "What's wrong with all of your eyes?"

They unapplied their special vision. "We'll explain it later." Maddy said. "What were you saying?"

"Oh, well, I saw these people handing out guides. I think they were called 'beta-testers'-"

Beta-testers, thought Natalie. They know all about this game. They're the experts of Sword Art Online.

"-and they gave these out for free." Payge explained.

Aidan laughed. "LOL! Just a few minutes ago we were trying to search for you, and for a guide."

"That was so convenient." Taylor said.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! I'm back! Here is this weeks chapter! I hope you all enjoy it! Remember. NO FLAMES!**

An hour had passed, and the sky was getting darker, and more colorful. The group had headed out to the fields to watch the sunset.

In the Northern fields, there were floating islands that hovered several yards off the ground. Small streams of water cascaded down the rims and to the pond they were sitting next. The pink sky, the islands, and the amazingness of it all was so real.

"Everything is so real." repeated Payge.

"It's amazing," said Maddy.

That day, they bought some supplies and knick knacks to look at. Payge bought a pair of red earrings, Aidan got a gold chain necklace to match her glasses, and Emily surprised them all by getting six cream puffs-one for each of them.

As they ate the yummy cream puffs and drank in all of the beauty of the world, Aidan's eyes grew wide and she pointed to the distance. "What are those?"

There were silhouettes of some creatures about a half mile away. They looked like boars.

"Are they friendly?" Aidan asked.

"In most cases, boars are pretty mean." replied Maddy.

Payge pointed to another thing in the distance. "More like what is that." she said.

It was a tall gray tower that seemed to go into the sky forever. It looked huge.

"I think… I think it's attaching this floor to the next floor." Natalie guessed.

Taylor looked up into the dimming sky. "I don't see no floor." she said.

"I wonder what it's like." Maddy remarked.

"Can we go there?" Aidan suggested.

Emily stared at them. "You guys we have to defeat the boss first. Which I don't want to do." she stated.

Natalie shuddered a little bit. "Fighting the monster is probably so scary. Because you can die." she said.

"We can die?" said Aidan. "Well, I mean, yeah, we probably die because this is a game."

"Yeah. But it doesn't effect your real body whatsoever." Natalie reassured her.

"Then why be scared?"

"How about about you go face those boars over there? Even though you know you won't literally die, it's still scary. Like a rollercoaster." Emily pointed out. "But what happens when you do die?"

Natalie shrugged her shoulders. "You respawn, but might lose some of your stats."

"So can I level up?" asked Taylor.

Natalie nodded. "Yes. For instance, when you kill a mob you get money and better statistics in fighting and strength. The more you fight, the quicker and stronger you will be. But this game isn't just about fighting. You can level up in cooking, sewing, blacksmithing, almost anything."

"Whoa! So I can learn how to cook?" Payge said.

"Well, virtually!"

"Yes!" said Aidan. "I am so going to max out my sewing skills."

"Can I level up in fangirling?" asked Maddy.

"I wish!"

They all laughed.

"Well we should probably get going. You know, logout." said Natalie. "We can play in the morning."

"Now?"

"... yeah."

They stood up and opened their menu dashboards. "You guys logout first. I'll be last." said Natalie.

"No, I will be last." Emily said.

"Emily-"

"Natalie. Listen to your elders." she said firmly. Nobody laughed this time.

"Okay. Well, where is it?" said Taylor.

"Yeah, I can't find it…" Aidan followed.

Emily frowned. "What are you guys talking about?"

"The logout button!" Taylor shouted.

"There's no need to yell. It should be right… wait, what?" Emily said with surprise. "Maddy? Do you have it? It should be at the very bottom of the menu."

Maddy checked. "It's not there."

"Payge? Natalie?"

"No."

"Nope!"

"..."

There were a few seconds of the silence. The only sound was the water stream pooling into the pond.

And then a different sound came. The gonging of a bell. The sound rung across the land, distant and deep. The sound of it seemed to give off a vibe none of them liked.

"Why is it ringing?" questioned Payge.

Suddenly, everything around them dissolved into pixels. And then everything came back, but they were in a different place. They were forced to teleport back to the main square of the town of beginnings.

But the main square seemed different. It was darker, and there was a ton of players around them. Something was definitely wrong.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Aidan.

"We're fine." Emily replied. "But why are we here? What's happening?"

Around them, people were teleporting. And all of them looked confused.

"This wasn't planned," realized Natalie.

"I really don't like this…" Payge said nervously.

"What is that?" Maddy said.

"What?"

"Above us."

There was a red thing floating in the sky. It looked like a dashboard that said WARNING on it. It was also blinking.

"What does this mean?" asked Taylor. "Is something wrong with the game?"

"LOOK!" someone shouted from the other end of the square. They all looked up. The blinking red WARNING had stopped blinking. Suddenly, it multiplied, and soon the whole sky above them could not be seen. There was just a big dome of red WARNINGs.

And then, some redder and horrible leaked from the cracks of the dashboards. It looked like blood, but it did not hit the ground. It constructed itself into a giant mass that crackled with electricity. Soon, it formed into what seemed like a giant floating cloak.

Murmurs of worry erupted in the crowd.

"Who is that?"

"What the-"

"Is that the game master?"

"Why doesn't he have a face?"

"Is this an event?"

Suddenly, a melodic male voice boomed from the cloak: "Attention, players. I welcome you to my world.

My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and of this moment, I am in control of this world."

Akihiko Kayaba. He is the creator of SAO!

Questions were setting off like fireworks in all of their brains. Payge and Taylor glanced at each other, and Aidan hugged her sister. Maddy and Natalie stared at Akihiko Kayaba with solemn faces.

"I am sure some of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menu; the logout button. I assure you, this is not a defect in the game."

"What?!" They all said.

"I repeat, this is not a defect in the game."

More whispers and worried murmurs erupted again in the crowd. "No wonder we couldn't log out!" Maddy said.

"If it wasn't a defect, what was it?" Natalie asked worriedly.

Akihiko Kayaba spoke again in his steady voice: "This is how Sword Art Online was meant to be. You can not log out of SAO, and no one can remove the NerveGear from you head. If anyone attempts to do so, the NerveGear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull. It will destroy your brain, and end your life."

A stone seemed to drop into the pit of Natalie's stomach. This meant… if her mom realized they were playing the game late, she would try to take off the NerveGear.

Her mom was going to kill them all!

Aidan stopped hugging her sister. Her face had pure terror on it. "We can't get out?"

No one said anything.

"Despite my warning, some family and friends of players have attempted to remove the NerveGear, an unfortunate decision to say the least. As a result, we have 213 less players than what we had to begin with. They have been deleted from Aincrad as well as the real world."

"213?!" Taylor shrieked. "213 people DIED?"

Everyone in the square was buzzing. Some people were shouting at Akihiko Kayaba, some people were whispering to their friends with fear.

A bunch of floating dashboards appeared around the giant cloak man. When they looked closer they were actually news headlines and articles. "As you can see, international media around the clock have coverage of everything, including the deaths." Emily saw on one of the articles there was a picture of a girl crying, probably for her dead relative. Another headline screamed: Death Count Rises with Online Game Incident.

"I hope this brings you comfort as you try to clear the game. But it is important to remember the following: you can not revive someone who has died in the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system forever, and your NerveGear will ultimately destroy your brain."

The whole square was silent, and every single face was staring up at the creator of Sword Art Online.

"There is only one way for you all to escape; you must clear the game. Right now, you are gathered on floor one, the lowest floor of Aincrad. If you defeat the boss in the dungeon, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on floor one hundred, and you will clear the game."

"But what's the point?" whispered Emily.

Everyone around them seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Right now, you are all wondering why, why would Akihiko Kayaba, creator of Sword Art Online, do this? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one; to create a world with my design and my choice of fate. As you can see, I have achieved my goal.

"This marks the end of the tutorial, and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck."

Then the cloak started to glitch and fall apart. Soon, it had fully disappeared. The warning signals above them also disappeared.

And it was just them. Just them and a game of death.

 **Here we go. Now shit starts getting interesting. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! See you all next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi. I know. I'm a fucking piece of shit for not updating. I'm sorry, I have been super busy. How could I have been busy on the weekends! Good question! Because I am a junior in high school! And it fucking sucks! I have lots of work and it's like 1:00 a.m right now. So I plan to throw about three or four chapters out at you tonight. Bye! Enjoy! NO FLAMES! Unless they involve me. If you flame the story 8 will find a way to Block you on this site. Bye!**

The whole square, the whole space, the whole world was silent. Nothing made a sound. There wasn't a trace of bird singing, the crying of a vendor, not even breath.

I am trapped forever in a death game.

All Natalie could think about was her family. Her baby brother and sister. Her mom. Her cousins. And school. She would never see them again, and she would never be able to accomplish her dream of becoming a writer. She will never finish school, have her first love, children, or job. She would die an early death, her brain getting microwaved.

Tears filled her eyes. She dropped to her knees and stared.

Maddy was still staring with her mouth open at the spot where the cloak mass had disappeared. She wasn't sure how she felt. Not scared, really. Just… shocked.

Payge was doing the same thing, but staring at Taylor. They were both staring at each other, their mouths open and not saying anything. Payge's head was spinning, not sure of what to think. In Taylor's mind, all she heard was regret. Regret for ever putting on that stupid cord. She would never see her beloved brother again. Her brother… could not live without her.

Aidan immediately started to cry. She couldn't stop herself, and she wasn't sure why. It was as if someone had pressed a button, and tears came pouring down her face. She hugged her older sister, her sister who was always there for her.

Even Emily didn't know what to think.

Around them, players were yelling and swearing threats at Akihiko Kayaba, even though he had disappeared. A girl to their right passed out. Another voice screamed from the other end of the square, a long, drawn-out scream. A young man to their left was checking the main menu frantically, as if he could still check that it was there.

But of course, it was not there.

No one could get out.

Everyone was trapped.

Natalie knew what they had to do. She stood up tried to talk, but her voice came out weird. She could barely talk.

She cleared her throat: "Hey. Guys. We need to get a place to spend the night. Before they're all taken."

"How are we supposed to?" Taylor yelled. "Give us a few seconds, OKAY?" her voice was shaky.

Aidan continued to cry. Maddy seemed to be lost in thought. Emily said: "Natalie, let's just try to figure-"

"NO. After all this information, I want to sleep in a nice bed, not cobblestone!" she shouted. The tears came again for some reason, but she held them back. "In the morning, we can figure everything out."

Emily sighed. Payge tried to shrug but her shoulders felt like jelly for some reason.

Natalie made an ushering movement with her arms, and they all walked by her side. Suddenly, Emily pulled out her sword. They all looked at her. "Now that I know this game is fatal, I'm not taking any chances.

"She's got a point." said Payge.

"I think we're safe in-town…" Maddy said.

They all knew that was true, but after what happened today anything was possible.

They found a cheap inn that was fairly nice. It was a small, wooden inn but it was most certainly cozy. The lobby was just one room with a fireplace, tables, and a bar. They bought one "large" room for 85 col. It had two full-size beds with plain white sheets, with a small table and armchair in the corner. There was one window on the right side, getting a view of the Northern fields.

But there wasn't much to look at anymore, because of the increasing darkness. It was a window frame with black. Payge closed the curtains. Natalie locked the door. It was all for safety.

Taylor yawned loudly. "I'm so tired. How am I tired? This is a game."

"It's because everything is real now." stated Emily.

"I just realized, guys, where are our real bodies right now?" Payge asked. There was a few moments of silence.

"I don't know."

"Hospitals?"

"... probably."

"Well, let's get in bed then. I'm so tired." said Taylor, as if they weren't just discussing something serious.

They all unequipped their gear, leaving them in their undergarments. "These are our pajamas?" asked Payge.

"Then these are the strangest pajamas." Maddy said.

"You know what?" said Payge. "Screw it." she unequipped her undergarments. All that was left was a red bra and underwear.

"I don't care either!" admitted Taylor. She did the same. "I just want to sleep!"

"We're all women." Emily said.

Everyone unequipped their clothes so that they were all in their underclothes.

"I'm so tired." Taylor announced again.

"We know." said Natalie.

Aidan, Emily, and Natalie climbed into one bed and Taylor, Payge, and Maddy in the other.

Once they were in bed, they realized the light was still on.

"I'm too comfy." said Maddy.

"Taylor and I are officially asleep!" yelled Payge.

"Oh, I'll do it." Aidan groaned. She leapt out of bed and turned off the lamp.

Now everyone was in bed. Everyone was resting. And everyone was thinking. Thinking about how crazy everything was, how terrifying this was going to be.

And: would they ever get out?

It was 7:21 am, and Payge was the first one up. How?

Normally, Aidan would be up first. Then Natalie. Then Emily, then her, Maddy, and Taylor was always the very last to get up.

She also realized with a sinking feeling that this game really was happening. That she really was trapped.

This is not a dream. F.

What was the point of it all? moaned Payge in her head. She wanted to continue her life normally, really. Even if it meant being self-conscious and being bullied, whatever. She would give anything to go back to the real world.

Well, at least I'm with my best friends.

Actually, being with her best friends in this situation was the best that could possibly happen. Because she loved her friends more than anyone.

I hope that's what they think about me…

She sat up in her virtual sheets and looked out the window. The sun was rising.

She laid back down in her bed and stared at Taylor's back

as it rose up and down in a melodic pattern. She heard Maddy's sleeping sounds behind her. She closed her eyes.

Suddenly, when she opened her eyes again she heard people walking around and talking softly. She must of fallen asleep.

Payge sat in her bed somewhat sleepily. "Morning, friends." she said, then stretched and yawned like a kitty.

Aidan laughed. "I seriously wish I could record that. It's so cute."

Payge smiled and leapt out of bed but was careful not to wake Taylor or Maddy. She joined Natalie, Emily, and Aidan at the small table. She then realized she was the only one awake who was still in her underwear. She equipped her undergarments quickly (white shirt with black shorts).

"We need to go shopping for sure," said Natalie. "But we also need to level up. Right now we are all at level one. If we want to… well, survive… we need to be strong."

"I think we need to get supplies first." said Emily.

"But we have to level up!" argued Natalie.

"What about breakfast? I am really hungry." said Aidan.

Payge put her hands up in the air. "How about before we any of those things we wait for Taylor and Maddy to wake up." she pointed out. "My vote lies with breakfast first." she added.

"Well, yes. Breakfast obviously. But then we should head out to the fields and level up to at least Level 5." Natalie said quickly. "Then in the afternoon we get lunch and shop for everything we need."

They all looked at Emily. She was the oldest, sixteen in real life, and they all sometimes joked that she was their mother.

"That is actually a good plan. And I also think Taylor and Maddy should wake up now-"

"Why?"

"-before the bar downstairs gets packed. They sell food, right?" asked Emily.

Natalie shrugged. "Guess we'll have to find out."

"I'll wake them up." Aidan volunteered. She walked over to the left bed and gently woke Maddy up. She got up slowly but got dressed. Taylor, however, wouldn't budge after five minutes of Aidan's gentle shake.

"Put some elbow grease into it!" Payge called. They all laughed.

"Um," said Aidan.

"Come on! All of us are already in our gear and our swords are equipped." Natalie tapped her foot impatiently.

"Hold up!" said Payge. Aidan quickly moved out of the way as she jumped on the bed with such force they heard a boing sound. They all broke down laughing. Payge could barely breathe.

Taylor stirred and sat up. "What is going on?"

"A lot, Taylor. A lot."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello! Here is the next installment. I hope you enjoy. And I counted the Saturday's. You guys get three chapters. Here you go.**

"We'll have two large omelets and two small black bread buns please. With two waters, three milks, and what did you want Aidan?"

"That dragonfruit drink! It sounds exotic." Aidan said. They laughed at her choice of words.

The bartender didn't crack a smile but wrote down everything on a piece of paper. "Please take a seat anywhere you like. Your food will be ready in a few minutes."

Before they left, Natalie made sure to take care of one thing. "Also, sir? What is the maximum stay at this inn?" she asked, not entirely sure if she said it right.

"Two weeks. Would you like to book your room for two more weeks?"

"Yes please. We are Room #12-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, now get out of the way. You're holding up the line." he replied rather ominously. Natalie frowned and walked with her friends to a table.

"For an NPC, he was a jerk." said Taylor a little loudly. But this time, Natalie didn't try to shush her.

They were in the main lobby of the inn. They found out that the bar didn't serve many different choices, as far as food went. But, it didn't matter right now. They just had to eat and get out to the fields.

They chose to sit on the couch by the fireplace. As other players sat down at tables around them, none of them looked very happy. Not many were even smiling. Maddy observed one man staring off into space, his eyes glazed over.

"People are probably going to end up killing themselves." said Maddy.

"What?" said Aidan.

"People. Committing suicide in this game." repeated Maddy, starting to feel uncomfortable.

"I don't want you to do that!" Aidan said a little loudly.

"What's going on?" asked Taylor.

"Nevermind. I was just-ugh. Nevermind." Maddy said dismissively.

"No, I agree with you. Ignore Aidan's comment." replied Emily.

"Hey! I was just worried for my friend, alright!" called Aidan.

"Friends, no fighting." Payge said.

"We're not fighting." argued Emily. "Calm down."

Maddy shook her head in a frustrated way. "Just forget it. All I was saying was that a lot of people are going to die in this game, okay? Speaking of which, we need to stick together, as cheesy as it sounds." explained Maddy.

"She's right." said Natalie. "And we cannot take any stupid risks. That's how players die."

They were all silent for a minute or so, staring at the fire

and waiting for the food to come.

Then a servant came up to them with platter of food. "Your food, ladies." he said. Taylor raised her eyebrows. "The total cost is 16 col."

They all split up their coins to pay for the cost. The man left and they ate hungrily.

"I wonder how they make food taste… well, taste?" asked Aidan.

"I don't know. It's amazing." Natalie said.

"And delicious!" added Payge.

It was a beautiful day out in the fields. It was sunny, and a

a light breeze tickled the long green grasses. Some other players were out there as well, tackling some boars.

They were walking along the path led outside the Town of Beginnings. Of course, the Town of Beginnings is so huge and the fields are so vast that they used their teleport crystals to teleport to the gates of the city.

Suddenly, as they were walking through the field towards the mobs, the sound of hooves was heard behind them. They all whipped around. Three large boars were charging towards them, their eyes glinting red.

Aidan and Payge screamed. "Oh my god!" gasped Maddy.

Natalie didn't realize how big they were until they were a few feet away. Before she knew what she was doing, her sword was in her hands and she was standing in front of the group. Once the boars were about to attack, she thrusted the flat part of her blade against their horns, expecting them to get thrown back. But instead they pushed harder, as if they were trying to break through her sword.

Her feet were digging into the dirt as she tried to keep them back. "Help." she said.

Emily took out her sword and kicked one of boars off its feet. Natalie let go and almost fell. "Watch out!" she cried as the two remaining boars charged towards Taylor, Payge, Aidan, and Maddy.

They jumped out of the way and got their swords out.

Emily sooned figured out how to activate a sword skill. She thrust the hilt of the sword into the boar's neck, making it squeal. She mercilessly then stabbed it. Instead of blood, a reddish pixeled cut appeared on the boar's body. Its HP drained to zero. It turned to blue glass, and shattered.

When she turned around to help her other friends, it looked like Natalie had killed a boar. But Aidan was stumbling on her feet. She tripped on a rock and fell down. Everything was happening so fast.

Aidan screamed as the boar charged for her. Taylor ran after it. Payge and Maddy were still collecting loot from the last kill. Before Emily could react, a player she didn't recognize came out of nowhere. Their sword and the boar's horns collided, making an earsplitting PING!

The boar landed on its back and shattered.

They all ran over to the player and Aidan. Emily got there first. She hugged her sister tightly and looked up at the stranger. "Thank you." was all she could say.

It was a young-looking guy around their age. He had brown hair that glinted blond in the sunshine. He looked okay. He also had about the same level of supplies that they did.

"Oh, it was no problem." he said. "For a group of girls, you did just as I expected."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" snapped Natalie, her eyes glinting. Everyone stared at her. Usually, anyone but her would be the one to snap back.

"Well, you did alright. And blackie down there did pretty good, I guess." he said, putting away his sword. "You know that those boars are just as powerful as mid-level slimes in other games." He had a snicker playing around in his mouth.

"Okay. Well, thank you saving my sister." Emily said stiffly with a smile that looked more like a hairline. "But, if you're going to act like that, go. Besides, this is our first day fighting. Don't expect us to be perfect, brownie."

"And you don't mess with us 'ladies', okay?" Taylor added.

"Amen to that." said Payge.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Okay. I'm going now." He raised his hand in a farewell and walked away.

Emily helped Aidan up to her feet. "That guy was a jerk." mumbled Aidan. "But, he did save me."

They all walked with their swords out towards another batch of boars spawning about twenty yards away. This time, they knew what they were doing. For now, Natalie and Emily were the ones excelling at the fighting, but they of course were beginners. Maddy and Taylor were getting the hang of it, while Aidan and Payge still struggled. At one point, a boar charged at Payge without warning. She started to stab it aimlessly, reaching every piece of body she could. Unfortunately, it was trying to do the same thing. They were all laughing uncontrollably, even Payge, until the boar finally died from the stabs.

That was what they were doing for most of the afternoon. While they were leveling up and gaining col, Natalie noticed every now and then something staring at them from the forest in the distance. She decided not to tell her friends about it.

At around 2:00, they were all tired and hungry, so they headed back to the Town of Beginnings. For the rest of the afternoon, they had a small meal and went shopping in the marketplace.


	7. Chapter 7

**Here you go. This is the last chapter until Saturday. Enjoy it. There is a little bit of angst. But this site was built on angst. So here we go!**

A week had passed. The group was soon learning that this game was more trouble than it was worth.

They were sitting the marketplace, eating their lunch and reading the paper.

"So, 168 players have died in this first week," informed

Emily. "Mainly by… suicide."

They all looked at Maddy. "You were right." said Aidan.

"Let me see that paper." Natalie reached over the table and grabbed the paper out of Emily's grip. She let her have it.

"That's terrible. I guess people are just giving up, and thinking that we'll never make it back to the real world." Natalie's eyes skimmed the paper left and right.

"But will we?" Payge said, her eyes wide. There was a moment of silence between them all.

"Well, it's only week one. We can't give up now." Aidan said, breaking the silence. "But let's change the subject. Did you guys know there's another big town on the other side of this floor? It's not as big as the Town of Beginnings, but…" her voice trailed off.

"Yeah, that's a great idea!" Emily exclaimed.

"Let's do it!" said Taylor.

"Wait! Guys, can we please wait a day or two?" asked Payge desperately.

"Yeah, we need to prepare." agreed Natalie.

"Okay. That's fine." Emily shrugged her shoulders and took a bite of her sandwich. "How are we going to get there? Teleport crystals?"

"Well, I kind of wanted to walk there. I thought it might be more interesting." Natalie mumbled. They all stared at her.

"What?!" screeched Aidan.

"Are you crazy? Natalie, this game is crawling with mobs. Over 200 people have died!" Taylor yelled, a little too loudly.

"It's probably safer if we use teleport crystals." said Maddy

quietly.

"Okay! Sorry! Nevermind!" Natalie huffed. She stood up. "We should be going now."

Taylor opened her mouth to argue, but Emily reached her first. "She's right. We've been here for ten minutes-"

"Yes. And it's a waste of our time. Our life, just sitting around and eating." Natalie said. No one said a word. They all got up and walked away together. Back to the fields to level up.

Even though this was an MMO, today seemed less sunny than last week. Or maybe it was just the "less sunny" mood they were in, thought Aidan.

"You guys know that… we've been kind of cynical recently. And no one's telling jokes. Like we used to." she said once they reached the back alleys of the city.

It was true. In the real world, they were all good friends ever since early middle school. They would always talk about their fandoms, had epic sleepovers, and had a lot of inside jokes. During the lunch break at their school, they would always be the last ones in the cafeteria. Talking and sharing food and…

...laughing. Because they the best of friends.

Their friendship was, and still is, really rare. Even rarer than the truest of love.

No one really replied to Aidan. Because the reason of their growing frustration and silent sadness was this game.

And the thought that they would never get out.

"We… we were laughing last week!" Payge said. She stifled a giggle. "R-remember me stabbing the boar?"

"Ha! That was funny." said Aidan. Good old Aidan.

Maddy gave her a weak smile. The rest of them looked on.

"Okay. So are we ready for our teleport crystals now?" Emily asked them all.

They all nodded and shrugged.

"Sure."

"Let's go then."

"I don't care."

They summoned their teleport crystals, all different colors.

"Ready?"

They all exclaimed at the same time: "Teleport, Western Fields!"

That day, they decided to do things a little differently. They wrecked some boars for a few minutes, but boars were way too easy now. They needed a variety of opponents.

"Why don't we go into the woods?" suggested Payge.

Emily looked uneasy. "Well, I don't know… I read that the woods can be really dangerous. There are a lot of powerful mobs in there."

"Not really powerful." piped Maddy. "It wouldn't hurt to take a peek."

"Yeah. Come on!" said Natalie, already running to the woods with sword out. She was clearly excited to see a new place.

They all followed her. As the plain's long grasses slowly became shorter and scrubbier, the sunlight was also decreasing as they reached the damp, cool forest.

It was like a typical Michigan backyard. But bigger.

They all slowed down uncertainly and walked gingerly through the forest. The few glades of sunlight that peeked through the treetops made their swords glint.

They were far in enough to where the plains could just barely be seen. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a growling sound was heard to their far right.

They all whipped around and stared. About ten yards away was a bear. But it was brown and glinted green. It was also very large.

It had two HP bars. And it was called a Forest Ursa.

"I think we might have treaded into its territory." Payge said, but her voice was not joking. It was shaking.

Taylor slid one of her throwing knives out of her belt. She threw it, and it landed spot-on the huge bear's shoulder. It let out a deafening, painful roar, then charged.

They all scattered as it ran towards them. Instead of charging at the place where it was aiming like the boars, it followed their moves. Everyone had their swords out.

Natalie somehow ended up in front of everyone, facing the bear. But that was where she wanted to be. Protecting her friends.

As the bear charged again, it leapt on its hind legs, towering over them all. It roared again, then swiped its beach-ball sized claws at them. It hit Natalie and Payge, sending them flying backwards. Aidan automatically dropped everything and ran to them. Emily and Maddy were about to do the same, but bear was just beginning to charge again. It roared.

"WE'RE FINE!" Natalie screamed over the roar. "KEEP. FIGHTING."

Aidan was torn. Payge was crinkled on the ground, and Natalie was covering her face in agony. Payge looked up at her with bravery. "Go." was all she could say.

Aidan nodded and joined Emily, Maddy, and Taylor.

Emily was attacking it from the behind mercilessly, while Maddy and Aidan shielded Natalie and Payge. Taylor, meanwhile, was rapidly throwing knives at the bear's shoulder.

"I'm running out of knives!" Taylor said. She backed off from the battle and ran over to her friends.

"It's okay! The HP is coming down!" yelled Maddy.

"Keep going at it Emily!" Aidan tried to yell, but her voice was shaky and afraid.

The bear kept trying to figure out its attacker. It turned around in circles, but Emily was careful to hide from it. Eventually, the bear fell down on all fours. Its claws sliced through the air and barely missed Aidan.

The bear roared again and charged for Aidan and Maddy. Maddy, thinking fast, activated a sword skill and sliced the bear's face clean.

For a wild moment, the bear seemed to be in shock. But it resumed and swiped its claws, knocking Maddy off her feet. Then, it headed for Aidan. She let out a bloodcurdling scream.

All that was between her and the bear was her thin sword.

Emily desperately dashed up to her sister. "Aidan, MOVE!" she screamed.

Aidan was not quick enough. The bear leapt its massive body at her. Aidan fell to the ground, under the creature's clutches.

"DAMN YOU!" Emily screamed. There was an uproar. Everyone, even Payge and Natalie, was running for the bear and beating it up.

It was hardly five seconds of merciless stabbing when the bear's HP had finally disappeared.

The HP was all gone. Hundreds of pixelated red marks were covering the bear's body.

It turned to glass and shattered.

Emily dropped her sword and embraced Aidan. She squeezed her as hard as she possibly could. Hot tears were burning in her eyes.

"Aidan… I don't know what I would've done if…" Emily whispered.

Aidan was shaking like mad and uncontrollably crying. She barely had a scratch on her, but the experience she just had to endure was terrible.

"We should get out of here. Now." said Maddy. "Before any more come."

They all obeyed. Emily and Taylor helped Aidan to walk while she cried. "I-I couldn't breathe. It-it was so heavy, it's whole b-body was on top of-f-f me." she stuttered.

Once they reached the plains they teleported straight to the inn. They walked past everyone in the lobby without a word, and went to their room.

Safe and sound.


	8. Chapter 8

**HEllo! I'm actually updating on time! Unbelievable right? So here is the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy it! No flames!**

It was 1:23 am in the floating castle of Aincrad, and Natalie was still awake.

To her right, the two sisters were sleeping soundly. On the left wall, in the other bed, Maddy, Taylor, and Payge were also fast asleep, but someone was snoring. She just couldn't tell who.

There was a sliver of white moonlight that crept through the window. The night air outside was silent. There were no street vendors crying, no players talking and laughing. It was just silence.

She stared over at Payge. She could just barely see that her cuts were healing. In SAO, no blood spilled. Cuts and damage are symbolized by pixelated marks.

Blood would have made everything a lot scarier.

When the bear had struck her today, she felt a stinging pain on her face, then the force of hitting the ground. When she had regained conscience of what had just happened, she could see her HP bar.

It was decreasing. Just a little bit. But the sight of your HP bar decreasing is the same as watching your strength disappear, and death grow nearer.

A scary thing.

Once everyone got back to the room, Taylor helped heal Payge and Natalie's health. Their HP bars returned to normal, but the cuts were still leftover. Everyone else was tending to Aidan. She calmed down within five minutes, and they ate a simple dinner.

Natalie sat up in her bed, staring out the window. She wasn't what it was, but she wanted to go outside. To get away from her friends for a little bit.

She was careful not to wake her friends as she left the bed. She equipped her gear, and before leaving, checked herself in the mirror. The cuts were still there. One across her forehead, one below her eyes, and one on her chin, where the bear had just barely missed her neck.

She turned the doorknob silently and left the room. As she went down the stairs and crossed the lobby, she was thankful that no one was there.

Once she stepped out of the building and into the night air, she realized how much she needed this.

Everything was still and quiet. It was dark but the moon was so bright.

Natalie took out her teleport crystal and teleported to the Eastern Fields. Just to see what it was like.

Once she teleported there, she first thing she noticed and got excited about was the town in the distance.

Also, instead of boars, there were wolves. And the land was a lot hillier.

The wolves were fairly the right size. They had dark grey coats and eyes that glinted red when they turned. Here and there, a pair of wolves would be sitting. Most were sleeping.

That's weird, thought Natalie. Wolves travel in packs. I guess Akihiko Kayaba made a mistake. Or, he was too lazy to program them into travelling in packs.

One of the wolves stood up in alarm, just noticing her. It took a few steps in her direction, travelled sideways as if it were hesitating, then ran towards her.

Natalie slid her sword out of its scabbard and held it in front of her. As the wolf grew closer, it started to snarl ferociously.

Luckily, it only had one HP bar. It wasn't going to be that hard of a fight.

Natalie activated a sword skill and ran towards the wolf, both of them wild and free. The tip of her sword sliced through the wolf clean. It shattered instantly.

Natalie turned around and faced the place where the wolf had just died, panting but smiling. She like that sword skill. It was definitely useful for smaller mobs like wolves and boars.

The wolf dropped meat, hide, col, and of course some XP points for her! She could sell the meat to a butcher and the hide to trader, whoever wanted it.

There were more wolves, but she didn't feel like killing any more. As she stared off into the distance, tears started forming in her eyes for no reason whatsoever. Was she homesick? Did she actually miss going to school? And how did she end up as a swordswoman, not a normal girl?

She wiped away her tears before it could fall down her cheeks. She suddenly noticed that the sky looked conical in shape… and there was a strange marking about a mile away. Was it the entrance to the outside of Aincrad?

She slid her sword back into place, and started to run. She ran instead of using her teleport crystals, because then she could gain some XP that would increase her speed rate.

Also, she felt free.

Once she got close, her hypothesis was confirmed: it was one of the entryways to the outside.

She excitedly ran to the entranceway and stepped outside of Aincrad.

It was beautiful.

Outside of this death game was a gorgeous view of the heavens. The sky was a glistening golden color dotted with long clouds. She stepped out onto the balcony. It seemed to stretch around Aincrad's perimeter. She looked up, trying to see the top of Aincrad. But because of its conical shape, she couldn't.

She looked to her left and right. No one was there. She walked out to one of the outstretching decks and leaned against the edge, looking down.

She wondered if anything was down there. But as far as she could see, it was just golden clouds.

Suddenly, a strange feeling crept onto Natalie's conscience. Something was weird.

She whipped around to stare a swordsman. He seemed just as startled, probably because of her face.

"S-sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to scare you. But what happened to your face?"

Natalie realized he was the rude boy that saved Aidan last week. His dark brown hair and dark brown eyes was familiar.

"I got a little scratch from a Forest Ursa." Natalie replied. "But it's fine. My friends fixed me up. It should heal in a few days." She felt a little embarrassed, since the last thing she said to him was a snap.

But he was ruder. So he should be embarrassed.

"Oh," he said, leaning against the balcony like she was. "I hope those cuts heal soon." He sighed and stared off into the golden clouds. "Also, I would like to apologize for being rude last week. I realize that I was not being very respectful."

"Oh it's okay," Natalie answered quickly. "Don't worry about it. You did save my friend. From getting hurt, that is."

He was still looking away, into the clouds. "It wasn't… that bad. Your friend would have been fine….. I guess I just wanted to help." He shrugged and brushed his hair to the side, even though it looked perfect. Natalie smiled. It was what any boy would do-constantly brushing their hair to the side.

He turned to look at her. For some reason it was hard to look in his eyes. His dark brown eyes.

Why I am acting so weird.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"I'm Natalie. And in the real world I'm fourteen years old. I also look exactly like I do in the real world, so no secrets." she said.

"You can call me Ash. I'm fifteen." he said.

There were a few moments of silence. Both of them stared onto the moving golden clouds, wondering about the world.

Just so she wasn't awkward, Natalie opened up her menu and checked the time.

1:45. She had to go back or else she would never get enough sleep.

"I bet this is the place where they killed themselves." Ash said suddenly.

Natalie turned to look at him. "The suiciders?"

He nodded. "They just jump off and…"

"...shatter." Natalie finished. She could just picture it. "Well, I have to go now. It is, after all, almost two o'clock in the morning." She smiled at him in farewell and took out her teleport crystal.

"See you." he said.

"Teleport, Town of Beginnings!"


End file.
